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Artillery
Uses The main use of artillery is for attacking fortifications while at a safe distance. Artillery can range from modern day mortars to medieval cannons. They can be made or found. A good use is for attacking enemy compunds. They are often very slow moving and heavy so are best transported on vehicles or as stationary defences. Effectiveness Exploding artillery shells can easily rip apart a zombie's body, but are not very useful for killing them. As demonstrated during the Battle of Yonkers, the psysiology of their bodies prevents shockwave effects from disabling them. Limbs can definitely be torn or blown off, but they direct little blast force towards the head and brain. Some artillery shells and rockets use Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) bomblets to disperse a cluster of submunitions over a large area. This may seem better to fire at an approaching horde, but it is merely the same as many small point-detonation shells, with the same disadvantage. Other artillery shells and rockets have fuses that can be set to air-burst above the ground. This would be more effective against the undead, as the blast and fragmentation is directed straight down onto their heads. Submunitions combined with airburst fuses have to potential to be a very effective zombie killer system (although no airburst submunitions currently exist); a few MLRS systems stocking them can kill thousands of zombies in under a minute. Though air-bursting artillery would be a better use of the weapon system, it is still not the most ideal weapon for killing zombies in a horde; those directly under the blast would be killed, but those further away from directly under the detonation may have blast wave and shrapnel damage to their bodies and merely be disabled. In terms of more older weapons such as the trebuchet, heavy rocks and rubble will generally do a great deal of damage to anything they hit, although they're not entirely accurate so they are best fired into a closely packed horde or against other bases e.g. bandits or rival survivors. They can also have a massive effect on enemy (human) morale when explosives or heavy rubble is being rained on them, as they have throughout history. One of the more useful rounds for zombies gun artillery employs is the illumination round. Mortars and howitzers can fire illumination rounds to light up a battlefield, especially at night. While this is not lethal against the undead, sending up illumination at night would easily draw their attention to it. This can distract them from seeing people moving on the ground as they look up and may take a horde's attention away from attacking as base wall (as long as there are not people in the open they can see to remind them there's people inside). Types of Artillery Historical Trebuchet *Range- Depends on quality and size of counterweight *Can be made- Yes *Ammo- Nearly anything heavy e.g. rubble *Mechanisms- Usually a counter weight Ballista *Large Macedonian Crossbow *Range- Depends on quality *Can be made-Yes *Ammo- Large bolts *Mechanisms- Wound up rope causing tortion Cannon *Large metal cylinder *Range-Depends on quality *Can be made- With metalworking skills yes *Ammo-Cannonballs *Mechanisms-Gunpowder Modern Mortar *Range- Depends on caliber *Consist of a base plate, a barrel, and a bipod *Can be made- Crude but useable indirect fire device can be crafted *Ammo- Varies on country, US uses 60mm, 81mm, and 120mm *Mechanisms- Gunpowder or primer Howitzer *Direct fire or indirect fire gun *Range- Depends on elevation *Can be made- Crude gun can be made, possibly using large-bore pipes with propellant and projectile *Ammo- Varies on country, US uses 105mm and 155mm *Mechanisms- Primer Self-propelled gun (SPG) *Self-mobile mortar or howitzer *Range- Vehicles: hundreds of miles; Weapon: depends on caliber *Can be made- Improvised mortar or howitzer can be mounted on vehicles *Ammo- Depends of artillery gun *Mechanisms- Primer Category:Weapons Category:Technology Category:Tactics and Strategies Category:Strategies